Has anyone tried running a historical league like this?

[blackrussian]

im building a 1984 historical league. i should preface this by saying that it will be sort of a hybrid league; im not too worried about fictional players. but that issue is at the core of my question.

what im trying to do is build up the minor leagues by importing players from the lahman db who have not necessarily appeared in the majors yet, starting with the 1983 draft and working backwards (say 6-7 years).

for example, the montreal expos drafted pitcher brian holman in the 1st round of the 1983 draft. he did not debut in the majors until 1988 (which is when he would normally be available through the amateur draft in a typical historical league), simply having a typical progression through the minor league system.

so in one sense, this system is a bit more realistic b/c im introducing players into the league when they actually began their pro career in the minors. i do often have to adjust ratings, esp. for those that had limited playing time in the majors.

the main problem becomes subsequent drafts. if i introducce brian holman in my 1984 league, i have to be sure i delete him when he becomes available in 1988 when his major league career began. the other issue is what i do for these subsequent drafts to make sure i have enough players available in the draft (since many of them will already be on various minor lg teams)... the obvious answer is fictional players.

another thing im throwing in this '84 league are players who never actually made it to the majors at all. unfortunately, minor lg stats are not easy to find so right now this will largely be cosmetic (ie player names) but makes things a touch more interesting.

i was wondering if anyone has tried running a league like this and if so, what kind of experience they had with it.

[No Pepper]

There is the Ankit/Gambo v4.0 database that does what you are looking for. If I am correct, this database works as you like for players making their debut after 1960. Although I haven't checked specifically, Brian Holman would import in his pro-debut ('83/'84) rather than 1988 when he made his major league debut. You seem to be aware of the requirement for fictional players if you wish to have a full system of minors but do know that this database is not a work-around for that issue.

[blackrussian]

thanks NP...thatll save a lot of time. so i d/l'd the latest, 4.0 and having a lot of trouble importing it into the game. specifically, when importing the players during the league creation it barely moves (1% progress took about 20 min, who knows how long it would take to import entirely).

ill PM gambo about it, but if you or anyone else know of any issues and fixes, let me know (im using mac, btw). ive never had this prob with the regular lahman db, nor the arod/garlon db. is it the size of the db itself?

edit: i did cut down on the db size (wiped out everyone prior to 1960) and it made no difference.